Tag: rikomatic

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Reminder: Walk the world to fight hunger this Sunday!

Powerwalk_004

Codelia sends out updated info on the "Fight Hunger: Walk the World" event taking place this Sunday, May 13.  The UN World Food Programme every year organizes a "Walk the World" fundraiser / awareness raising event to draw attention to the problem of famine and hunger around the world.  In towns and cities all over the planet, people gather to walk in support of humanitarian aid and development assistance for the most needy. Now avatars in Second Life can also participate.

The gathering point is now the Dragon Moons Resort (Teleport SLURL) generously provided by Demian Caldera and Nyna Slate. You can also make a donation at that same location and join the "fighthunger" group to stay abreast of the latest developments.

Cross-posted from Rikomatic.com

Written by: rikomatic

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Teens create Second Life PSAs on obesity, piracy, intolerance

(Also posted on Rikomatic.com) Youth non-profit Global Kids announces that five teams of teenagers has completed 30-second Public Service Announcements created in Second Life.  The PSAs cover a range of issues including obesity, media literacy, piracy, discrimination and safe surfing on the net. It’s great seeing young people using Second Life to put out positive social messages.

(I blogged previously about other machinima for good.)

Written by: rikomatic

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Free non-profit booth space available for Education Conference May 25

Stacy Hasselbacher (Lyra Hammerer in SL) sends along information about an opportunity for non-profits to put up a booth for an upcoming education conference:

As some of you may already know, on May 25th there will be a 24-hour conference: the Second Life International Education Conference: Best Practices in Teaching, Learning, and Research. Nonprofits may each have a 6X6 booth with a 25 prim allowance for free. You need not staff your booth for 24 hours; notecard givers are perfectly acceptable ways of communicating information about your organization.

I am the nonprofit liaison for the event, please feel free to respond if you have any questions or would like to sign up. There is also information on the event’s wiki, located at: http://slbestpractices2007.wikispaces.com/

Written by: rikomatic

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Infinite Vision Media announces pro bono SL marketing services for non-profits

I just got word that Infinite Vision Media is launching a Social Responsibility Initiative, an effort to allow non-profit and academic institutions to benefit from Infinite Vision’s SL marketing and networking expertise. IVM’s is launching this new initiative at the same time that they announce the creation of the American Cancer Society’s headquarters in SL created by IVM. According to IVM builder Hiro Pendragon, they plan on offering most of their services pro bono: “Part of the SL Social Responsibility Initiative is to assist these non-profits and good causes to secure funding from other sources to fund development of projects. i.e. Helping to come up with proposals with them for the potential funding sources.”

See below for the full press release:

Infinite Vision media CREATES SOCAL RESPONSIBILITY initiative

LAUNCHES PROGRAM WITH CREATION OF american cancer society’s second life presence

APRIL 27, 2007 — Infinite Vision Media (IVM), an interactive and emerging media studio specializing in developing social media in the 3D web space, today announced the creation of its social responsibility initiative. The program is being launched with the firm’s pro-bono creation of the American Cancer Society’s virtual headquarters in the popular 3D virtual world known as Second Life®.

IVM, well-regarded for its development of three-dimensional presences for corporate, non-profit and academic clients is launching the social responsibility initiative as a way of giving back to the community that afforded the firm’s creation and success. Drew Stein, chief executive officer of IVM, explains: “We think it’s important for the non-profit community to have at its disposal the level of Second Life marketing and networking expertise that corporate brands enjoy. The 3D web space offers marvelous opportunities for non-profit organizations to build community that expands their mission to a global audience.”

The firm, which has most recently developed a presence in Second Life for top brands Dell and The Weather Channel, has been involved with Second Life since its inception and is uniquely positioned to understand the power of the 3D web space as an outlet for an organization’s message and mission. “We’re honored to bring the American Cancer Society’s mission to Second Life residents. Cancer awareness and education messages need to be delivered in Second Life in a way that respects the American Cancer Society’s brand as well as understands the SL audience. We are able to bring expertise from both worlds to the table,” says June Peoples (Quirky McArdle), IVM’s chief operating officer.

One of the challenges for any non-profit looking to develop a present in a virtual world is the ability to demonstrate the effectiveness of that approach to potential funders in government and in corporate philanthropy. IVM will work with non-profit clients to envision the best possible use of the 3D web space, then help develop a proposal that can be floated to existing and likely funding sources.

The American Cancer Society’s headquarters will include office buildings complete with presentation and meeting rooms for cancer education sessions, a staffed link to the Society’s National Cancer Information Center , fundraising components, and green space and gardens that will showcase user-created art as an expression of the personal fight against cancer.

“The American Cancer Society has been engaged in Second Life through our signature fundraiser, Relay For Life for over four years,” said Randal Moss, the American Cancer Society’s manager of futuring and innovation-based strategies. “In building and opening a virtual headquarters in Second Life, the Society will be able to provide cancer information to more than 5 million Second Life residents and engage them in the fight to eliminate cancer as a major health problem.”

The American Cancer Society Virtual Office is being designed by IVM Creative Director Ian Tepoot (SL: Ethan Therian) with programming by IVM Chief Technology Officer Ron Blechner (Hiro Pendragon). Also consulting on the project and on IVM’s Social Responsibility Initiative is Dr. Karen Urbas (The Sojourner).

About Infinite Vision Media

Infinite Vision Media Inc. is a leader in virtual world development and interactive experience design. A full-service interactive marketing and emerging media agency, IVM develops three-dimensional presences for corporate, non-profit and academic clients. IVM works with clients individually to envision the creative possibilities of the 3-D environment and how it can help realize the potential of each mission or brand.

Written by: rikomatic

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How do I find non-profits in SL?

I often get asked "How do you find out what non-profits are active in Second Life?" There is an enormous variety of non-profit, socially conscious, humanitarian and activist actions going on every day, but they are not always easy to find. Given the wide range of activities, there is not one definitive list of non-profits available as far as I know. That's how big Second Life is.

Here are some suggestions of where to start though:

  • Get the TechSoup Non-profit HUD (Heads Up Display): Put on this handy in-world device and you can do your own self-guided tour of the dozens of non-profits that have provided information to TechSoup. This is not comprehensive… yet. But it's definitely a good way to get a snapshot of what's being done out there. You can find it at the TechSoup space on Info Island (teleport SLURL.)
  • Use the SL Event Search function: I like the web version, versus the in-world one. The category "Charity/Support Group" is particularly helpful at narrowing the hundreds of events going on each day.
  • Join the Eventful Group "SL Non-profit Events": I created a group on the calendar website eventful.com that aggregates non-profit events going on in-world. The advantage of eventful groups is that you can subscribe to it as an RSS feed, and download the events to your own Google or iCal or Outlook calendar.
  • Join the SL Non-Profit Email List: This is kind of hard to find on the SL website, but there is a listserv for non-profits active in SL. You can ask questions on the list to others who have year's of experience and tons of non-profit contacts in SL.

I'm sure I've forgotten a few other resources for finding out about non-profits in SL. But these are good places to begin.

Written by: rikomatic

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SL Non-Profits in Running for $100K in Project support from NetSquared

"Net2logo"The NetSquared conference is set for May 29-30 in San Jose, and they are looking to fund 20 new tech
projects for social good. 150 projects were submitted to their competition, competing for $100,000 cash from the NetSquared Innovation Fund. They are inviting people to vote for their favorite nominated projects between April 9-14.

There are a number of SL-related proposals on the table including:

So stop on by NetSquared and vote for your favorite tech project, SL-related or otherwise.

Written by: rikomatic